Football players wear shorts for light practices, without hitting. “Everyone looks good in shorts” means that players can’t be properly evaluated during these light practices. “Of course we can’t fool ourselves, everyone looks good in shorts. The common denominator in football is when you put on the pads” was cited in 1973.
 
 
24 August 1973, Lubbock (TX) Avalanche-Journal, “City Elevens Begin ‘Real’ Workouts” by Gary Newsom, pg. C1, col. 1:
Coach Tommy Stone joked that he really hated to get out of shorts. “I guess coaches always hate to go to pads because they look so good in shorts. But everybody looks good in shorts,” he admitted.
 
24 August 1973, Morning Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA), “Faulkinberry Is Pleased About Cajuns’ Progress,” pg. 5-C, col. 1:
“Of course we can’t fool ourselves, everyone looks good in shorts. The common denominator in football is when you put on the pads.”
(Russ Faulkenberry, head football coach of Southwestern’s Ragin’ Cajuns.—ed.)
 
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23 August 1974, St. Petersburg (FL) Times, “Earl Bramlett’s ripe for a winner” by John Bowman,
“Of course, everybody looks good in shorts. We’ll rely on the practice sessions in pads to determine wh will be playing.”
(Pasco Comprehensve High School football coach Tate Marsh.—ed.)
 
17 May 1979, Aiken (SC) Standard, “Football Coaches Missing A Child” by Greg Pitts, pg. 1B, col. 1:
The best South Carolina schools can do in the spring is work in shorts. And you know the old saying which goes something like everyone looks good in shorts.
 
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19 August 1988, Gadsden (AL) Times, “Freshman wants to start for Tigers,” pg. C1, col. 6:
“Everybody looks good in shorts.”
(Auburn University head football coach Pat Dye.—ed.)
 
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10 August 1993, TimesDaily (Northwest AL), “High School Practice Begins” by Wayne Smith, pg. B1, col. 2:
“Everybody looks good in shorts, but when you add 30 pounds to a kid and start hitting, you see how tough they are.”
(Sheffield high school head football coach Johnny Wright.—ed.)
 
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13 August 1994, Times-Daily (Northwest AL), “Lions go to work” by Gregg Dewalt, pg. 1C, cols. 2-3:
FLORENCE—There’s only so much a football team can do when confined to shorts in the early days of practice.
(...)
“Everybody looks good in shorts,” he (Bobby Wallace, coach of North Alabama football—ed.) said.
 
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27 July 1997, Gainesville (FL) Sun, “Practice,” pg. 5C, col. 1:
Steve Spurrier likes to say in the preseason that everyone looks good in shorts. And that’s certainly the case with the new receivers.
 
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Jennifer Hammond
‏@HammerFox2
Jim Caldwell on his team in mini camp. “I can’t tell a whole lot about anybody til we get the pads in. Everybody looks good in shorts.”
4:03 PM - 10 Jun 2014
 
Detroit (MI) Free Press
With big wingspan, Lions rookie safety Jerome Couplin has edge in roster fight
By Carlos Monarrez
August 23, 2014
There’s an old saying in football: Everyone looks good in shorts.
 
But coaches know the real test comes when players put on pads. And the test only gets more difficult when the games begin.